Action folded around to 2010 WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener in the cutoff and he raised to 600. Bruce Levitt defended the big blind, but then check-folded to a bet of 300 on the flop.
"Paul," Racener said to Paul Volpe one table over. "You took Negreanu's seat."
Indeed, Volpe had taken the spot of the recently departed Negreanu, who fell in unknown action. What we do know is that Negreanu will be taking a day off after busting this tournament.
We saw Ryan Tepen gathering his things and quickly exiting the tournament floor. By the time we arrived at the table, the dealer had already swiped his cards and two other players were chopping the pot.
The cards had been scrambled, but here's what we saw laid out in front of the two winners:
Opponent #1:
Opponent #2:
Tepen's hand will forever remain a mystery, but he did take a moment to share his feelings via Twitter:
The 2014 World Series of Poker marks the tenth anniversary of the annual event taking place at the Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas. One man that has been there all that time - and even a year before - is WSOP commentator and funnyman Norman Chad.
Since 2003, Chad has served as co-commentator alongside Lon McEachern. But how much do you know about him aside from that? We’re guessing not a whole lot, which is why we’ve decided to delve into the past of the man who uttered the memorable line: "This is beyond fairy tale - it's inconceivable."
Born in 1958 to Seymour and Perla Chad, little Norman grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. He attended Northwood High School and eventually graduated in 1976, but not before serving as the Sports Editor for the school paper.
He would continue writing sports-related material while at the University of Maryland, College Park, the institute where he would earn a degree in American Studies. After stints in stand-up comedy, writing for Sports Illustrated, two scripts for ABC's Coach and three more for HBO's Arliss, all of that lead to one place: the World Series of Poker.
"The first time I walked into Binion's (Horseshoe Casino) in 2003, I took one look around the room at the cast of characters and realized this job was going to be everything I'd ever dreamt of,” Chad has said in an interview with ESPN. “I swear, I asked myself, 'Where has this been all my life?' Then, after I watched the first show before it aired, I was so impressed at the gritty, real-life gambling feel these new producers had given it, it was just unbelievable."
It’s well known that Chad, who is a nationally-syndicated sports columnist with Couch Slouch, loves to play Omaha/stud hi-low, even making the final table of this event back in 2012 (he ultimately finished in sixth place for $36,093).
Chad, a prolific tweeter, is in today's field and already entertaining: